- Professor Emeritus
- PhD from the University of Oregon
- M.A., A.B. from Stanford University
- Theatre History, Directing, Methods
Susan S. Cole was hired as Director of Theatre at Appalachian in 1975 and served as chair of the Department Of Theatre and Dance from its formation in 1989 until her retirement in 2005. Prior to her 30 years at Appalachian, she was the scenographer at Bakersfield College in California and Director of Theatre and chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Keuka College in New York. She has directed about 60 plays and has designed scenery and lighting for over 50 productions and costumes for more than 80. She is a past president of the Southeastern Theatre Conference, North Carolina Theatre Conference and Alpha Psi Omega, national theatre honor society. Honors include the College of Fine and Applied Arts award for Service, the Suzanne Davis award for service to theatre in the south, the Herman Middleton Award for service to theatre in North Carolina, the Marian Smith outstanding career award, and North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine. She is listed in several different Who's Who volumes. Also a theatre historian, her research interests, publications and presentations have been focused on nineteenth-century American actors and actresses, playwright, Romulus Linney, and the Elizabethan Public Playhouse.
